During our drive towards our first stop in Spean Bridge, we experienced several bouts of pouring rain and glorious sunny skies; something we really needed to get used to. Unfortunately the worst of the rain hit whilst we were driving through Glencoe (a place we really wanted to stop) so we headed on to Fort William and arrived in Spean Bridge by early evening. We were warmly welcomed by our Airbnb host Margaret and her dog Colonel Mackie and settled in for the night with a typical Dave & Steph meal: chorizo, cheddar, stilton and a bottle of red.
Everything was so lush and green...and dense! There were magnificent mountains at every turn and we were beginning to wonder whether Iceland (our next stop) would be able to beat this scenery.
Eilean Donan Castle
The following day we headed toward Uig, Skye, where we were to base ourselves for the next couple of nights. We stopped by Eilean Donan Castle, managed to get some photos between the rain and stopped for lunch in Sligachan.
The Old Man of Stoor
We weren't due at our Airbnb until the evening so we decided to see The Old Man of Stoor up in the north. It was quite a hike to get up there and, as it commonly is, was hidden under cloud but it was still quite majestic and the view from the climb was well worth it.
After Stoor we headed back to Portree, the main hub of Skye for dinner. We stopped at an Indian restaurant where, for no reason we could discern, all of the male staff had it in for David. The meal was still enjoyable, though it really didn't stand up to Machan in Eltham.
Faerie Glen
Our Airbnb host, David, suggested we see the Faerie Glen the following morning, so we headed out there first thing to beat the crowds of people. Most of the roads to get to these places were quite narrow and precarious. We both adored this place!
The Quiraing
From Faerie Glen we headed onto the Quiraing which was absolutely mind blowing! The wet weather again descended on us, but we were spared a few moments of magical light.
Duntulm Castle
On our way back to Uig, we stopped by the ruins of Duntulm Castle which were situated in a really pretty spot. You can see the ruins in the drone footage, but I was more interested in the lovely views.
Dunvegan Castle & Gardens
Fairy Pools
We drove on from Durnham castle towards the Fairy Pools, but on the way it looked more like a drive into darkness - the Black Cullin are well named, dark and ominous looming over the part of Skye we were entering. As we arrived, and as with so much of Skye, we were blown away by the depth and scale of the place, the valley containing the Fairy Pools is framed by the first mountains of the Cullin with sharp faces of broken rock and sheer cliffs. However as breathtaking as the mountains were, as we walked (scrambled) our way down to the river that contains the pools, your eyes were pulled from the mountains and to the luminous colour of the waters flowing down through the pools, deep greens, almost technicolour blues Steph couldn't stop taking photos of - as you can see below!
